1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a connector for connecting a printed circuit board (PCB) to a flexible circuit board (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC).
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connectors are widely used for signal or power transmission between electronic elements. Due to continuing trend toward miniaturization and portability by the electronics industry, requirements for simpler configurations and lower profiles of connectors are constantly being promulgated. A conventional electrical connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,488. The electrical connector defines a mating cavity for receiving a complementary connector and comprising an insulated housing having a base extending along a longitudinal direction and a top wall integrally extending from an upper portion of a front surface of the base, a plurality of contacts retained in the base, a metallic shell surrounding around the outer of housing. The top wall acts as one wall of the mating cavity, and a first shielding plate of the metallic shell acts as the other wall of the mating cavity so that make the electrical connector in a lower profile.
The metallic shell further has a second shielding plate opposite to the first shielding plate for shielding the top wall of the housing. However, the second shielding member shaped in substantially rectangular has no engaging portions for being latched onto the housing except for a pair of solder legs extending from its lateral sides for connecting on a PCB, as a result, the second shielding member is prone to distort away from the top wall. In order to solve the problem of the above connector, generally, the second shielding member is constructed by having engaging portions. Accordingly, for reliably retaining the engaging portions, the height of the housing must be increased to have preferable engagement therebetween, which result in increasing the connector's entire height and deviating from the trend of miniaturization.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is highly desired.